Career

Klobuchar was elected as Hennepin County attorney in 1998, and re-elected in 2002 with no opposition. In 2001 Minnesota Lawyer named her "Attorney of the Year". Klobuchar was President of the Minnesota County Attorneys Association from November 2002 to November 2003. Besides working as a prosecutor, Klobuchar was a partner at the Minnesota law firms Dorsey & Whitney and Gray Plant Mooty before seeking public office.

U.S. Senate

Elections

In early 2005 Mark Dayton announced that he would not seek re-election to the U.S. Senate, and Klobuchar was recognized early as a favorite for the DFL nomination for the 2006 election. EMILY's List endorsed Klobuchar on September 29, 2005, and Klobuchar won the DFL's endorsement on June 9, 2006. Klobuchar gained the support of the majority of DFL state legislators in Minnesota during the primaries. A poll taken of DFL state delegates showed Klobuchar beating her then closest opponent, Patty Wetterling, 66% to 15%. In January, Wetterling dropped out of the race and endorsed Klobuchar. Former Senate candidate and prominent lawyer Mike Ciresi, who was widely seen as a serious potential DFL candidate, indicated in early February that he would not enter the race; that removal of her most significant potential competitor for the DFL nomination was viewed as an important boost for Klobuchar.[8]

In the general election, Klobuchar faced Republican candidate Mark Kennedy, Independence Party candidate Robert Fitzgerald, Constitution candidate Ben Powers, and Green Party candidate Michael Cavlan. Klobuchar consistently led Kennedy in the polls throughout the campaign.[9] Klobuchar won with 58% of the vote to Kennedy's 38% and Fitzgerald's 3%, carrying all but eight of Minnesota's 87 counties. Klobuchar became the first woman to be elected as the U.S. Senator from Minnesota. (Muriel Humphrey, the state's first female senator and former Second Lady of the United States, was appointed to fill her husband's unexpired term and not elected.)

Tenure

As of September 2009, 58% of Minnesotans approved of the job she was doing, with 36% disapproving.[10] On March 12, 2010, Rasmussen Reports indicated 67% of Minnesotans approved of the job she was doing. The Winona Daily News described her as a "rare politician who works across the aisle." Walter Mondale stated “She has done better in that miserable Senate than most people there."[11]

On March 30, 2008, Klobuchar announced her endorsement of Senator Barack Obama in the Democratic presidential primary, promising her unpledged superdelegate vote for him.[12] She cited Obama's performance in the Minnesota caucuses, where he won with 66% of the popular vote, as well as her own "independent judgment."

Committee assignments

For the 113th Congress, Klobuchar is assigned to the following committees:

Klobuchar opposed President George W. Bush's plan to increase troop levels in Iraq in January 2007.[14] In May 2007, after president Bush vetoed a bill (which Klobuchar voted for) that would fund the troops but would impose time limits on the Iraq War, and supporters failed to garner enough congressional votes to override his veto, Klobuchar voted for additional funding for Iraq without such time limits,[15] saying she "simply could not stomach the idea of using our soldiers as bargaining chips".[16]

Free trade

Klobuchar opposes free trade agreements that some perceive to cause a loss of jobs in the U.S.; however, she has wavered on her opposition to such trade agreements since her election. A current trade agreement with Peru may achieve her support on grounds of expanded labor and environmental protections, even though they contain the same language as past trade agreements.[17]

Klobuchar voted in favor of the Intelligence Authorization Act of 2008, which included a provision to ban the use of waterboarding by the United States.[21]

During the hearing of U.S. Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, Klobuchar sparred with Senator Tom Coburn when he questioned the nominee about his perception that Americans were "losing freedom." Klobuchar argued that the "free society" the senator favored was one in which women were underrepresented in government, including no representation on the Supreme Court or the Senate Judiciary Committee.[22]

In 2011, Klobuchar introduced S.978, the Commercial Felony Streaming Act, a bill that would make unauthorized streaming of copyrighted material for the purpose of "commercial advantage or personal financial gain" a felony under US copyright law. Backed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and praised by industry groups, the legislation has been enormously unpopular among critics who believe it would apply to those who stream or post videos of copyrighted content on public sites such as YouTube.[23][24]Justin Bieber has on radio called for Klobuchar to be "locked up" for supporting a bill that would make "unauthorized web streaming of copyrighted material a felony".[25]

Healthcare reform

Klobuchar voted for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in December 2009,[26] and she voted for the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010.[27] In December 2012, Klobuchar advocated to "repeal or reduce" the tax on medical devices included in the Affordable Care Act, as it would be harmful to businesses in her state.[28] Despite this, on September 30, 2013, Klobuchar voted to remove a provision which would repeal the medical device tax from a government funding bill in opposition to the provision being used as a condition in keeping the government open.[29][30] In January 2015, Klobuchar was one of 17 senators to co-sponsor S. 149, a bill to retroactively repeal the device excise tax.[31][non-primary source needed] Senator Klobuchar has said that the medical device tax threatens jobs, although her statements have been questioned by investigative journalists.[32][33] Medtronic spent more than any other medical device company to lobby against the device tax in 2014, with Senator Klobuchar as one of Medtronic's top recipients of political action committee (PAC) donations.[34]

Recreation advocacy

Senator Klobuchar has been an active supporter of outdoor recreation legislation, including the Recreational Trails Program (RTP) and the Travel Promotion Act. When the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee passed MAP-21,[35] legislation ending the 1991 user pay-user benefit provision for RTP, trail interests and state park officials warned that the new policy could effectively end the program by relegating recreational trail projects to competition for funding among a broad category of authorized non-highway projects.[36] Klobuchar led efforts to alter the proposal, working closely with recreation interests to develop a floor amendment that would reauthorize the RTP program unchanged. Although she faced bipartisan leadership in support of the committee’s proposal, Klobuchar managed to secure acceptance of her new language by the legislation’s floor manager, and she won strong bipartisan support for her amendment. The result was Senate passage in early 2012 of new surface transportation legislation, which continued RTP with $85 million in guaranteed annual funds and no significant change in its operations.[36]

As chair of the Subcommittee on Competitiveness, Innovation, and Export Promotion, Klobuchar continued to champion vital recreation programs. She played a key role in the 2010 passage of the Travel Promotion Act and the creation of Brand USA,[37] an advertising effort to recover the traditional U.S. share of the international tourism market that will highlight national parks and their natural treasures. With Klobuchar’s active support, the program has been granted $100 million per annum in matching federal funding, is widely expected to bring millions of additional visitors and billions of dollars to the U.S. and its parks each year, and has become the focus of a major White House initiative.[38]

On June 6, 2012, Klobuchar received the Sheldon Coleman Great Outdoors Award, the recreation community's most prestigious award, at a special Great Outdoors Week celebration presented by the American Recreation Coalition.[39] The award, created in 1989 to honor the lifelong efforts of Sheldon Coleman, is presented to individuals whose personal efforts have contributed substantially to enhancing outdoor experiences across America. The winner is selected by a panel of 100 national recreation community leaders, ranging from corporate executives to key federal and state officials and nonprofit organization community leaders.[40] Sen. Klobuchar is the fifth woman, and the first woman serving in Congress, to receive the honor.[41]

Crime

As Attorney of Hennepin County, Senator Klobuchar was a strong advocate for Minnesota’s first felony driving while intoxicated law.[42] Klobuchar also focused on the prosecution of violent and career criminals while serving as County Attorney.[42]